Newsletter Update

Instead of an email newsletter, Kendra and Ardy have decided to try a blog as a means of communication for those interested in the Women and Religion Section. Please feel free to post comments and suggestions. We will send out an email when the most recent newsletter has been submitted to the blog, but check back periodically for postings.

December 2007 Newsletter

The 2008 Regional Meeting will be held at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon (See Call for Papers below). Here are a few of the papers tentatively scheduled for 2008:

Bonnie Bazemore (Eastern Washington University) has agreed to share her expertise in archaeology. She will present on women and religion in the ancient world.

Eric Cunningham (Gonzaga University) will present on gender issues in Buddhism.

Ardy Bass (Gonzaga University) is researching Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement.

The star attraction, offered by Lesley Hazelton, is a "dynamite film." In Lesley's own words, "It's called 'Standard Bearers of Hussein: women commemorating Karbala' and is an inside look at women's ceremonies and rituals during Ashura, the huge Shia festival commemorating the death of Muhammad's grandson Hussein -- the founding event of the Shia-Sunni split. It has extraordinary footage of Iranian women not only leading and participating in their own rituals, but also explaining them. Narration is in English, with subtitles for the Iranian women when they sing, chant, and speak. It's 35 minutes long and excellent technical and artistic as well as documentary quality. It was made 'in the field' in 2003 by a Norwegian academic called Ingvild Flaskerud, of the Centre for Peace Studies at the University of Tromso, but is clearly important as an anthropological and women's-studies document as well as a religious-studies one."

2008 Call for Papers

Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting
(AAR/SBL/ASOR)
May 2–4, 2008
George Fox University
Newberg, OR

http://www.aarweb.org/About_AAR/Regions/Pacific_Northwest/call.asp

Submit a 150-word abstract for each proposed paper as well as any equipment requirements for your presentation by January 19, 2008, to the electronic paper submission website for the PNW Region. Participants in the Pacific Northwest AAR/SBL and ASOR Regional Meeting must have the appropriate academic credentials and must be registered for the meeting to participate. Paper proposals (panels and special topics session suggestions are welcome!) not fitting into any of the categories below should be submitted to the electronic paper submission website under “Special Topics.”

AAR: We invite individual papers or panels on any aspect of the study of women and religion. This section especially welcomes proposals that facilitate cross-disciplinary and/or religious traditions in the study of women. Papers exploring feminist pedagogy are also welcome.

SBL: We invite proposals on women in religious literature including, but not limited to, ancient Greek and Roman, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Asian religions. Papers exploring the connection between sacred texts and violence are especially welcome.

Proposals should be submitted electronically at the region’s website to the co-chairs, Ardy Bass, Gonzaga University, bassa@gonzaga.edu; and Kendra Irons, George Fox University, kirons@georgefox.edu.

If you would like to receive our e-mail newsletter, please contact us at the e-mail addresses given above.

For one joint session with the Theology and Philosophy of Religion Program Unit, we would like to invite submissions of individual papers and/or panels reflecting on the contributions of North American Feminist, Letty Russell. We welcome proposals that facilitate the engagement of how the pioneering voice of Letty Russell facilitated and transformed the contributions of women in the theological/philosophical disciplines in the study of women and religion. Papers exploring perspectives from, and relationships between, various theologies of women are also welcome.

Congratulations Lesley!!

Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen by Lesley Hazleton is officially published from Doubleday (publicist is Rachel Lapal, rlapal@randomhouse.com, if you would like a copy).

More details on the book and early reviews are at www.jezebelbook.com